What is justice and fairness in ethics?

While justice usually has been used with reference to a standard of rightness, fairness often has been used with regard to an ability to judge without reference to one’s feelings or interests; fairness has also been used to refer to the ability to make judgments that are not overly general but that are concrete and …

Why does Rawls equate with fairness?

Rawls conceives justice as fairness at variance with the utilitarian views of human nature (Lyons, 1972). In this theory, two are the guiding principles. Rawls proposes this exercise so that particular cases, which are arbitrary from a moral point of view, do not affect people’s judgments in the original position.

What did Rawls say about distributive justice?

This view is summarized in Rawls’s “general conception of justice”, which is that “all social values – liberty and opportunity, income and wealth, and the social bases of self-respect – are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any, or all, of these values is to everyone’s advantage”: injustice “ …

What are the key principles of John Rawls theory of justice?

Rawls identifies the following equal basic liberties: “political liberty (the right to vote and hold public office) and freedom of speech and assembly; liberty of conscience and freedom of thought; freedom of the person, which includes freedom from psychological oppression and physical assault and dismemberment ( …

What is original position in Rawls theory of justice?

In John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice treatise, the ‘original position’ was defined as a pre-political abstraction from reality in which a group of people who know nothing about themselves, such as their age, gender, or even names, are asked to choose principles of justice that could serve as the standard for a …

What is John Rawls theory of justice summary?

John Rawls’s theory of justice is a sound theory which says that a well-ordered society needed a concept of justice as a basic requirement and that such a concept could be developed by rational individuals behind a ‘veil of ignorance’ about their own position, and that it would involve, primarily, equal right to basic …

How is justice as fairness achieved according to Rawls?

And according to Rawls, if everybody in the original position promotes equality then “justice as fairness” is attained. If inequality is upheld, then injustice prevails. As we can see, justice as fairness is achieved through the notions of the original position and the veil of ignorance.

How does rawls’theory of Justice attack utilitarianism?

As we can see, Rawls’ theory of justice directly attacks consequentialist ethics, especially its most notable representative, that is, utilitarianism. Second, it would appear that for Rawls, an erroneous theory is tolerable in the absence of a good one.

How is Rawls theory of Justice a social contract?

As we can see, Rawls appears to be a moral contractarian and his theory of justice is in itself a kind of social contract. Rawls recommends that individuals in the veil of ignorance ought to adopt a generalized point of view that bears strong resemblance to a moral point of view.

What are the two principles of Justice as fairness?

These two principles of justice are expressions of what Rawls calls “justice as fairness”. The first principle puts emphasis on equal access to the basic human needs, rights, and liberties. Rawls calls this the equal liberty principle.

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